Published: Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 04:25 PM.

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PANAMA CITY — Some stood by comic stands to count pocket change before heading to the register, while others sat on the floor searching endless file boxes for a specific book.

One thing was for sure, whether it was their last dollar or that specific book could not be found, comic book fans were taking advantage of the annual Free Comic Book Day on Saturday.

“I think it’s the best thing since peanut butter … it’s just a little bit of everything in it,” said 45-year old David Hoffman, of Sampson, Ala., as he sifted through boxes at New Force Comics looking for four “Preacher” comic books to fill out the entire run.

Hoffman said he uses the giveaway to find particular books to complete collections of his over 80,000 comic book collection at home.

New Force Comics, 2461 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, held its giveaway in conjunction with 50-percent-off deals on the majority of comic books. Arena Comics & Gaming, 1360 W. 15th St., and Comic Emporium, 2403 N. U.S. 231 also participated in the event.

“The whole idea is to try to appeal to people who haven’t come to the comic book stores to see the large variety of things that are available,” said Bob VanEpps, a store volunteer. “We try to have something for everybody.”

The store gave away about 3,500 books, most within the first two hours, which is when most diehard comic fans show up.

PANAMA CITY — Some stood by comic stands to count pocket change before heading to the register, while others sat on the floor searching endless file boxes for a specific book.

One thing was for sure, whether it was their last dollar or that specific book could not be found, comic book fans were taking advantage of the annual Free Comic Book Day on Saturday.

“I think it’s the best thing since peanut butter … it’s just a little bit of everything in it,” said 45-year old David Hoffman, of Sampson, Ala., as he sifted through boxes at New Force Comics looking for four “Preacher” comic books to fill out the entire run.

Hoffman said he uses the giveaway to find particular books to complete collections of his over 80,000 comic book collection at home.

New Force Comics, 2461 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, held its giveaway in conjunction with 50-percent-off deals on the majority of comic books. Arena Comics & Gaming, 1360 W. 15th St., and Comic Emporium, 2403 N. U.S. 231 also participated in the event.

“The whole idea is to try to appeal to people who haven’t come to the comic book stores to see the large variety of things that are available,” said Bob VanEpps, a store volunteer. “We try to have something for everybody.”

The store gave away about 3,500 books, most within the first two hours, which is when most diehard comic fans show up.

“We run the big sales to not only promote the hobby by giving away the comics, but to thank (customers),” said owner, Rick Whitelock.

For the event, participating stores purchase books from publishers. Whitelock said his store spends its entire promotional budget on the one-day event.

“We have fun with it. … This year was more successful than last year,” he added, noting more families brought their children in for the experience.

And before 4-year-old Elise Powers received a lollipop, her father Stacy Powers — who’d said loving to read started at a comic shop for him — made sure a comic (“Jubilee”) was in her hand.

“This is our first time (at Free Comic Book Day); I heard about it online. I’m trying to get her interested in books, so I figure comics is the best way to do it,” Powers said. “I told her if she’s good every week, we’d come get a book every week,” he added.